DURHAM, N.H. – Climate change and environmental experts from the University of New Hampshire are available to discuss the critical and controversial issues that will be raised as global leaders meet Dec. 7-18, 2009, in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

VanDeveer is available to discuss the complexities and contradictions regarding climate policy in North America, and the politics of U.S.-EU energy and environmental policymaking.

“There are still a large set of critical issues and stumbling blocks, sadly. As the news suggests, there is now little hope of a treaty in Copenhagen and a growing sense that the Obama Administration has not been very serious about accomplishing much at the summit,” VanDeveer says.

“Outstanding issues include both global and national emissions reduction targets and timetables and financing. The negotiations are still quite full of proposals for these issues, but there is little agreement on them. So far, the United States has not articulated its own proposals or positions,” he said.

Mohr can discuss the role that economics plays in developing climate change policy. He also can discuss the relative merits of different climate change policies, such as carbon taxes, a global carbon market, the Clean Development Mechanism, and greenhouse gas emissions trading. Scott Ollinger, associate professor of natural resources and Earth system science, 603-862-2926 (w), 207-439-2002 (h), scott.ollinger@unh.edu

Ollinger is available to discuss the global carbon cycle, implications of rising CO2 on terrestrial ecosystems and the potential role of using forests and other ecosystems in climate change mitigation strategies.

“We can only hope that the looming failure of Copenhagen can be overcome by future talks and a serious change in resolve by the United States and China. The gravity of the challenge is underscored by the fact that even the best of outcomes at Copenhagen would still be insufficient for dealing with the problems of rising CO2 and climate change,” Ollinger says.

Mark Fahnestock, research associate professor at the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) and the department of Earth sciences, 603-862-5065 (w) 603-978-1628 (c) 603-749-6333 (h), mark.fahnestock@unh.edu

Fahnestock can discuss the implications of warming in the Arctic and rapid changes in glaciers – both from direct observations – and how they affect sea level now and in the future.

He is a co-author of the chapter on Greenland of the Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA) report. This chapter is the first compilation of all of the changes taking place in Greenland; it is to be released at Copenhagen along with a video that features several scientists, including Fahnestock.

Wake is available to discuss the science of climate change, past and potential future climate change in the Northeast United States, and regional solutions for reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling more than 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.